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Chapter 343: Hunting a Guardian
This chance encounter was something Orin Vale hadn't quite expected.
No matter how much he complained about the Guardians being troublemakers, under normal circumstances, the gang of Little Blue Men should at least be on the side of the good guys. At worst, they just liked to mess things up in their own self-righteous ways, arrogantly believing they could carry the banner of cosmic justice, only to frequently cause world-ending incidents.
But for one to outright turn evil and defect to the other side was a rather rare sight.
"Infected by fear?" Orin Vale ran a scan and quickly figured out the situation.
"All things will ultimately submit to Fear!"
The Guardian shouted, thrusting his palm forward from a distance. Yellow light erupted from his palm like a bursting flood, surging forth and completely engulfing the red-and-silver battlesuit before him.
"Fear! Tremble! Become my energy, and... huh?"
The Guardian was laughing with his arms wide open, but his laughter trailed off as he realized something was wrong.
The yellow light dissipated, and Orin Vale was still floating in the same spot, stroking his chin in thought. "Is it because of that Yellow Lantern Ring on his hand? The readings are a bit unusual. It's not an ordinary Power Ring... perhaps it's a ring specially programmed for the specific mission of 'capturing a Guardian'?"
The Guardian was stunned for a moment.
He hadn't held back with that last attack; no one knew its power better than he did. An ordinary Green Lantern could never withstand such power. Even a veteran Green Lantern would have to focus their full attention just to have a chance of blocking the blast, and even then, they would likely be severely injured.
Yet this creature of unknown origin before him seemed completely unaffected.
He must be doing this wrong.
"Feel the Fear!"
The Guardian shouted again, spreading his arms and unleashing an even more torrential flood of yellow energy.
Orin Vale glanced at him sideways and casually flicked his left palm. A pale blue light was released, following the arc of his wave and creating a faint ripple. When the surging yellow energy collided with this ripple, it abruptly changed direction, swirling like a whirlpool before vanishing without a trace.
"That is..." the Guardian exclaimed in shock.
"The Blue Lantern of Hope!"
This was completely beyond his expectations. In such a vast universe, with thirty-six hundred sectors and countless galaxies, for him to just randomly pass through and run into a Blue Lantern user—what were the damn odds of that?
A second ago, he was mocking his opponent for having the bad luck to run into him. But looking at the situation now, the Guardian was shocked to realize that he was the unlucky one.
However, he did not panic.
Blue Lanterns themselves lacked combat ability. Although they could counteract yellow light, even setting aside the power of the Yellow Spectrum, a lone Blue Lantern was no match for a Guardian.
Blue Lanterns were already scarce in the universe, and they were the natural enemy of the Yellow Spectrum. This was a perfect opportunity to eliminate one right here and now...
An electric arc flashed.
The corner of the Guardian's eye caught the passing electric arc, the blurry image of a fist rapidly closing in on him...
*Bang!*
The protective force field shattered like an eggshell, and the shockwave rippled across the Guardian's face in a vortex. The immortal being spewed a mouthful of blood as he was sent spinning backward, his eyes filled with shock even as he flew through the air.
This speed, this power—and you fucking call this 'lacking independent combat capability'!?
The Guardian began to doubt the billions of years of knowledge he had accumulated about the Emotional Spectrum as an immortal being.
Could it be that Blue Lanterns were this ridiculously overpowered now? Had all his years of research been for nothing?
Retreat.
The thought immediately appeared in his mind.
Though it had only been one exchange, he was already certain of one thing.
One look was enough to know this was someone he couldn't afford to provoke.
To properly wield the spectrum of fear, you not only had to instill fear, but also know when you yourself should be afraid.
Having made up his mind, the Guardian twisted his body in mid-air and waved an arm. A vortex instantly erupted in the starfield, rapidly expanding with a yellow glow. The Guardian used the momentum from being knocked away to accelerate, diving headfirst into the vortex without a backward glance.
A warp channel, the primary means for members of the Seven Lantern Corps to perform interstellar jumps. Within it, one could move between different starfields and sectors at speeds far exceeding that of light.
Bursting out of the warp channel in a flash of sparks and lightning, having jumped into another starfield, the Guardian briefly slowed down and let out a long sigh of relief.
"What a terrifying being."
The Guardian muttered.
"Not only can he wield the light of a Blue Lantern, but he also possesses such personal strength. A being like this would be troublesome if he obstructs the plan. We need to formulate a plan for his elimination as soon as possible..."
"You were saying... eliminate who?"
A voice sounded by his ear.
The Guardian's pupils contracted, and he turned around in shock. A strike that looked like it could pierce the stars, an azure light beam, shot towards him.
Without thinking, he hastily threw up a barrier to block it. But the barrier lasted only half a second before breaking, and the intense heat and impact blasted him, leaving him bruised and swollen as he was sent flying.
It's that guy, he caught up!
The Guardian was shocked.
But I clearly jumped across two whole space sectors in an instant... even if he can also perform interstellar jumps, how did he lock onto my jump direction?
Did he track the frequency of the Yellow Lantern energy?
If that's the case...
The Guardian made a decision. While being blasted through the air, he struggled to regain his balance, turned, and once again dove into a warp space.
His guess was indeed correct. The Yellow Lantern spectrum was one of the colored spectrums Orin Vale was relatively familiar with, and he had already completed a model that could track and identify its characteristic signal. Tracking it across one or two sectors was no problem at all.
Besides, interstellar jump technology was his specialty. He could do it without any tools, not to mention he had now learned how to open a warp channel using the Emotional Spectrum and even had a Mother Box, a device specialized for interstellar travel. He had more than enough ways to do it.
Locking onto the position and performing a long-range teleport, Orin Vale emerged from the teleportation vortex to find that the signal led to the nearest planet.
Maybe the old immortal realized he couldn't shake me with long-distance jumps and wants to use the planet's complex terrain to escape my pursuit?
But that was clearly a futile effort. The display in front of Orin Vale clearly showed the location of the Yellow Lantern energy, pointing out the direction as clearly as a compass.
However...
"Hmm?"
As he flew into the planet's atmosphere following that direction, Orin Vale raised an eyebrow inside his helmet.
Something unexpected happened.
On his display, the clearly marked Yellow Lantern energy signature suddenly split apart.
From one it became two... no, four, and then it quickly became ten, fifteen...
In a moment, signals with the Yellow Lantern characteristic were suddenly everywhere, scattering and fleeing in all directions.
Evidently, the Guardian had realized that the spectral fluctuation of the yellow light was the reason he couldn't shake his pursuer. So he used some method to interfere with this tracking, instantly creating a large number of identical signal fluctuations to confuse his pursuer, hoping to escape in the chaos.
Orin Vale smiled faintly.
"Clever."
(end of chapter)
This chance encounter was something Orin Vale hadn't quite expected.
No matter how much he complained about the Guardians being troublemakers, under normal circumstances, the gang of Little Blue Men should at least be on the side of the good guys. At worst, they just liked to mess things up in their own self-righteous ways, arrogantly believing they could carry the banner of cosmic justice, only to frequently cause world-ending incidents.
But for one to outright turn evil and defect to the other side was a rather rare sight.
"Infected by fear?" Orin Vale ran a scan and quickly figured out the situation.
"All things will ultimately submit to Fear!"
The Guardian shouted, thrusting his palm forward from a distance. Yellow light erupted from his palm like a bursting flood, surging forth and completely engulfing the red-and-silver battlesuit before him.
"Fear! Tremble! Become my energy, and... huh?"
The Guardian was laughing with his arms wide open, but his laughter trailed off as he realized something was wrong.
The yellow light dissipated, and Orin Vale was still floating in the same spot, stroking his chin in thought. "Is it because of that Yellow Lantern Ring on his hand? The readings are a bit unusual. It's not an ordinary Power Ring... perhaps it's a ring specially programmed for the specific mission of 'capturing a Guardian'?"
The Guardian was stunned for a moment.
He hadn't held back with that last attack; no one knew its power better than he did. An ordinary Green Lantern could never withstand such power. Even a veteran Green Lantern would have to focus their full attention just to have a chance of blocking the blast, and even then, they would likely be severely injured.
Yet this creature of unknown origin before him seemed completely unaffected.
He must be doing this wrong.
"Feel the Fear!"
The Guardian shouted again, spreading his arms and unleashing an even more torrential flood of yellow energy.
Orin Vale glanced at him sideways and casually flicked his left palm. A pale blue light was released, following the arc of his wave and creating a faint ripple. When the surging yellow energy collided with this ripple, it abruptly changed direction, swirling like a whirlpool before vanishing without a trace.
"That is..." the Guardian exclaimed in shock.
"The Blue Lantern of Hope!"
This was completely beyond his expectations. In such a vast universe, with thirty-six hundred sectors and countless galaxies, for him to just randomly pass through and run into a Blue Lantern user—what were the damn odds of that?
A second ago, he was mocking his opponent for having the bad luck to run into him. But looking at the situation now, the Guardian was shocked to realize that he was the unlucky one.
However, he did not panic.
Blue Lanterns themselves lacked combat ability. Although they could counteract yellow light, even setting aside the power of the Yellow Spectrum, a lone Blue Lantern was no match for a Guardian.
Blue Lanterns were already scarce in the universe, and they were the natural enemy of the Yellow Spectrum. This was a perfect opportunity to eliminate one right here and now...
An electric arc flashed.
The corner of the Guardian's eye caught the passing electric arc, the blurry image of a fist rapidly closing in on him...
*Bang!*
The protective force field shattered like an eggshell, and the shockwave rippled across the Guardian's face in a vortex. The immortal being spewed a mouthful of blood as he was sent spinning backward, his eyes filled with shock even as he flew through the air.
This speed, this power—and you fucking call this 'lacking independent combat capability'!?
The Guardian began to doubt the billions of years of knowledge he had accumulated about the Emotional Spectrum as an immortal being.
Could it be that Blue Lanterns were this ridiculously overpowered now? Had all his years of research been for nothing?
Retreat.
The thought immediately appeared in his mind.
Though it had only been one exchange, he was already certain of one thing.
One look was enough to know this was someone he couldn't afford to provoke.
To properly wield the spectrum of fear, you not only had to instill fear, but also know when you yourself should be afraid.
Having made up his mind, the Guardian twisted his body in mid-air and waved an arm. A vortex instantly erupted in the starfield, rapidly expanding with a yellow glow. The Guardian used the momentum from being knocked away to accelerate, diving headfirst into the vortex without a backward glance.
A warp channel, the primary means for members of the Seven Lantern Corps to perform interstellar jumps. Within it, one could move between different starfields and sectors at speeds far exceeding that of light.
Bursting out of the warp channel in a flash of sparks and lightning, having jumped into another starfield, the Guardian briefly slowed down and let out a long sigh of relief.
"What a terrifying being."
The Guardian muttered.
"Not only can he wield the light of a Blue Lantern, but he also possesses such personal strength. A being like this would be troublesome if he obstructs the plan. We need to formulate a plan for his elimination as soon as possible..."
"You were saying... eliminate who?"
A voice sounded by his ear.
The Guardian's pupils contracted, and he turned around in shock. A strike that looked like it could pierce the stars, an azure light beam, shot towards him.
Without thinking, he hastily threw up a barrier to block it. But the barrier lasted only half a second before breaking, and the intense heat and impact blasted him, leaving him bruised and swollen as he was sent flying.
It's that guy, he caught up!
The Guardian was shocked.
But I clearly jumped across two whole space sectors in an instant... even if he can also perform interstellar jumps, how did he lock onto my jump direction?
Did he track the frequency of the Yellow Lantern energy?
If that's the case...
The Guardian made a decision. While being blasted through the air, he struggled to regain his balance, turned, and once again dove into a warp space.
His guess was indeed correct. The Yellow Lantern spectrum was one of the colored spectrums Orin Vale was relatively familiar with, and he had already completed a model that could track and identify its characteristic signal. Tracking it across one or two sectors was no problem at all.
Besides, interstellar jump technology was his specialty. He could do it without any tools, not to mention he had now learned how to open a warp channel using the Emotional Spectrum and even had a Mother Box, a device specialized for interstellar travel. He had more than enough ways to do it.
Locking onto the position and performing a long-range teleport, Orin Vale emerged from the teleportation vortex to find that the signal led to the nearest planet.
Maybe the old immortal realized he couldn't shake me with long-distance jumps and wants to use the planet's complex terrain to escape my pursuit?
But that was clearly a futile effort. The display in front of Orin Vale clearly showed the location of the Yellow Lantern energy, pointing out the direction as clearly as a compass.
However...
"Hmm?"
As he flew into the planet's atmosphere following that direction, Orin Vale raised an eyebrow inside his helmet.
Something unexpected happened.
On his display, the clearly marked Yellow Lantern energy signature suddenly split apart.
From one it became two... no, four, and then it quickly became ten, fifteen...
In a moment, signals with the Yellow Lantern characteristic were suddenly everywhere, scattering and fleeing in all directions.
Evidently, the Guardian had realized that the spectral fluctuation of the yellow light was the reason he couldn't shake his pursuer. So he used some method to interfere with this tracking, instantly creating a large number of identical signal fluctuations to confuse his pursuer, hoping to escape in the chaos.
Orin Vale smiled faintly.
"Clever."
(end of chapter)
